Ahn Cheol-soo, a lawmaker of the People Power Party (PPP), publicly opposed independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon's return to the party on the 12th, saying, "I hope he will not even come near our party."
At a press conference held at the National Assembly that day, Ahn said, "I officially oppose Rep. Han's return to the People Power Party," adding, "If he is considering forming a new party, I will support it."
"It was by no means Rep. Han alone who stopped the martial law," he said pointedly. "Why must the history of that day become the heroic narrative of Han Dong-hoon alone?"
Referring to the continuing public disputes with figures aligned with Han, Ahn struck directly, saying, "Even with Rep. Han outside the party it is already this bad, so if he returns, the party will fall into factional conflict and a wasteful civil war."
Both inside and outside the party, some interpret Ahn's moves as accelerating his differentiation from Han with an eye on the competition for leadership of the future conservative camp. His steps to draw a line against Han while emphasizing internal party unity are seen as a strategy to absorb the old mainstream forces that still harbor aversion toward Han.
